The Charity Commission has launched an investigation into education charity Darul-Uloom School London amid concerns that its property is being put “at serious risk”.

The statutory inquiry has been launched after it emerged that a disqualified former trustee is claiming they have ownership of the land in which the Islamic school is based.

The regulator has found evidence that this is not the case and is held on trust by the charity.

“The Commission’s view is that there is evidence which shows that the land is held on trust by the charity, rather than being the personal property of any individual and has shared this view with both the charity’s trustees and the disqualified trustee,” said the Commission.

“However, despite the repeated deadlines given by the Commission for the trustees to resolve the issue, the trustees have failed to bring the matter of the land dispute to a conclusion.

“The regulator is concerned that these failures place the charity’s property at serious risk. As a result, the Commission has escalated its engagement to a statutory inquiry.”

It added that the inquiry will look at trustees’ management and governance and “in particular, it will consider the conduct of the trustees and their compliance with legal duties and responsibilities as it relates to the land dispute”.

The former trustee involved in the dispute around the land was one of two who were disqualified three years ago following an earlier investigation by the regulator.

This followed an altercation on the charity’s premises involving a fake gun and the discovery by police attending the scene of more than £400,000 found in a wooden chest.

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